Questions on the Heart
by ZachaRicO
Summary: There are questions on Ash's mind, keeping him up at night. When the subject of one of his questions joins him, what will happen? And what is this feeling Ash senses in the atmosphere? One-sided Advanceshipping


**Just a little something I wrote out of boredom.**

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The sky was filled with stars, as it rightfully should be. There were no city lights to drown them out here on Route 3. One would have a hard time wanting to go to sleep for witnessing this sight.

But the beautiful starry sky was not what was keeping fifteen-year-old aspiring Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum awake. On the contrary, his head was struggling with thoughts running amok. As he lay on top of his sleeping bag, still with most of his day clothes on, he began counting the stars in the sky, hoping that would put him at ease. It didn't. In fact, it only made things worse.

Finally, with a huff of annoyance, he sat up, fetched his flashlight, blue hoodie, and red hat, and quietly slipped away from his friends, careful not to wake them. He didn't have any particular destination in mind as he scoured the small undergrowth; he just wanted to find a place that would calm the small whirlwind in his head. As luck would have it, he came upon a small lake that glimmered in the starlight, entrancing him immediately. He slowly sat down, resting his arms on his knees as he stared into the lake.

"Ash?"

To this day, he didn't know why he didn't suffer a heart attack from the sudden voice. "What?! Who's there?!"

"Ash, it's me, May."

He breathed in annoyed relief. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," his brunette friend shrugged, sitting down next to him. "I just heard you get up and wanted to make sure you were all right."

He smiled at her concern. "Just like my mother," he sighed to himself.

"Hm?"

"My mother worries about me quite a bit, most often when I'm actually home and she thinks something's bothering me. You just reminded me of her."

"Well that's what mothers do," May shrugged, smiling.

"You're not my mother, you know," he glared softly at her.

"Oh!" she pretended to be hurt, getting up. "Well, if you don't want me worrying about you, then fine. I'll leave you here to sort out your own problems."

"Aw, come on," he grinned, pulling her back down. "I was only kidding!"

"Of course you were," she giggled. He chuckled as well.

"In fact, I'm kinda glad you're up," he got a little more serious. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Really? What is it?"

"Well, uh…" he trailed off. _This is gonna be awkward._

"Ash?" May whispered, worried again. "Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course!" he replied quickly. "I was just curious about something."

"What's that?"

_Well, here goes nothing._ Ash took a deep breath. "Why did you come to see me in Kanto?"

She looked puzzled at his question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you here?"

"Well, the reason I'm here is because I'm travelling with you on your quest to beat the Battle Frontier while I compete in contests."

"But you only just found out today that there were contests in Kanto," he reminded her. "You didn't know before that, yet you decided to come with me. So...why was that?"

May held her heart, her feelings for her best friend evident. Luckily, Ash was too dense to know what she was thinking. _Should I tell him? No, he wouldn't get it. But if I don't tell him soon, I'll lose him! And yet if I do tell him, I may lose him anyway. Ugh! Why does this have to be so complicated?!_

"Okay," she finally spoke. "You got me. I didn't know they had contests anywhere outside of Hoenn, and I knew that it would be a while before they would start up again. I wasn't sure how long travelling with you here would last, but I didn't really care if I missed the Hoenn Festival. All I knew was that I wanted to be with you."

There was silence for a moment, as Ash just stared at her, seemingly mesmerized. She looked back at him a moment, but then quickly looked away, blushing. _I should have phrased that differently_ she thought worriedly. "I mean...what I'm trying to say is –"

"You came...for me?" Ash repeated, eyes wide.

"Y-Yes," she nodded, eyes glimmering.

Ash blinked. "You're not gonna cry, are you?"

"No," she replied quickly. "I just...wasn't sure how you'd take my answer."

A grin spread on his face. "Now why would you be worried about that?" he snickered. "That's probably one of the sweetest things I've ever heard."

She looked into his eyes. "R-Really?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "You came all the way out here and put your dream to the side...because you wanted to see me. Is that right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Am I more important to you than your dream?"

"Of course," she replied instantly. "You're probably the best friend I've ever had, more like family really. I'm so glad you're a part of my life, and I didn't want us to separate...not yet."

He chuckled. "You know, May, I've never met someone like you: someone who would give up everything just to be with someone they really care about. You're a great friend, you know that?"

May exhaled in relief. _He didn't catch on. I guess that's good...for now._ "Well, I learned from the best," she winked, grinning.

They chuckled, and Ash yawned. "Thanks, May," he got up and stretched. "I needed that."

"Of course!" she imitated him. "Now, let's get some sleep. We've got quite a day ahead of us tomorrow." She started off for camp. "And don't forget, you're doing dishes in the morning, right?" she snickered, looking back at him. To her surprise, he hadn't moved, save for turning his back towards her. She raised an eyebrow. "Ash?" There was no response. _Now what?_ She slowly walked back to him and looked into his eyes: they were glued to the small lake, mesmerized. "What is it?"

His eyes didn't move, didn't blink, did nothing as he continued to stare. May was beginning to worry again.

"_It used to be called Chaos Control._"

She jumped. "What? Ash, what are you talking about? What does that even mean?!"

Ash blinked and rubbed his eyes, frowning. "I don't know. It just popped into my head." He looked at her, eyes uncertain. "I don't understand it, but something's different, May."

She regarded him with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Something about the atmosphere has changed. I can't understand it, but something's amiss. Remember the adventure we had with Lucario?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well do you remember how I was able to manipulate aura like Lucario could?"

"Yeah."

He looked at her with uncertainty. "It's calling to me, May. The aura is calling to me, and I don't know why." He put a hand over his heart. "Something has changed; I can feel it."

"What? What's changed?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but hopefully I can find out." He yawned again. "Let's get some sleep."

"Let's do that," she agreed, and they walked back to the campsite. Ash took off his hat and hoodie and settled into his sleeping bag, while May curled up in her's.

"Thanks again for talking to me tonight," Ash smiled warmly at her. "I think I'll be able to sleep soundly now."

"Hey, that's what friends are for," she winked.

"That's right," he whispered softly. "Say, who's on dish duty tomorrow?"

May just giggled. "Good night, Ash."

He chuckled and looked at her as she slowly fell asleep. "Good night, May," he sighed in contentment, looking back up at the starry sky. He frowned again as the aura prodded his soul yet again. _The stars_ he wondered. _Have they changed, too?_ He didn't think of it anymore as he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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**This kinda precedes my fanfic "The Temple of the Emerald." If you haven't read that, you should give it a shot. Anyways, what did you think of this? Feel free to R&R, but no flames please!**


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